an r2 4u

Christmas felt almost anticlimactic after our big advent calendar/music/cookie/movie/reading selection lead-in!  We had a quiet morning of gift-opening and board games (and A Christmas Story, of course!).  I was finally able to reveal Todd's big gift:  a hand-knitted Star Wars sweater!  I found the basic design  in a database of Star Wars patterns, tweaked it very slightly...

...and added the characters to a plain men's sweater.  I think the final result was a winner!

Before starting this sweater, I had basically stopped knitting.  My fingers would get so sore after just a few days because of my "death grip" issues.  Sure enough, this sweater was a real labor of love.  As I knitted slowly and painfully over the course of several weeks, I decided that I would discard my cobbled-together method of knitting forever.  I would learn a way that worked for me, without finger pain.  The research began...

...and I think I've settled on an unusual method called Portuguese knitting (tried once before but ended up defaulting to my incorrect style after a while).  With Portuguese knitting, you drape the yarn strand around your neck, so there's no finger-squeezing to worry about.  I'm knitting a scarf/shawl wrap now that's made up of simple knits and purls, so I'm excited to switch to this new method to see how it works in a practical setting.  One New Year's goal already accomplished!

I did try something new for Christmas Eve that I'd love to become a tradition for us.  I made homemade biscotti and whipped hot chocolate, which is basically regular whipped cream with cocoa powder added.  I overfilled our cups with hot milk and made a huge mess...

...but it was still delicious.  Here's the official "glamour shot" from the website, which is apparently how it would've looked if I hadn't filled the mugs so much:

Photo courtesy of Hummingbird on High

Now Christmas is over and we can focus on a bright and shining new year!  So far we've had cold weather with no snow but beautiful blue skies.

It's been cold enough to keep the ponds frozen...or at least semi-frozen.

Sometimes you can see interesting patterns on ice as well as snow.  On our front pond, there's a line of tiny steps, and then a long, sweeping slide.  Was it a cat?  Muskrat?  Fox?  I couldn't get a good angle of sight, but I'm so curious!

We took a nice hike around the property on Christmas day.

Lots of wildlife.  ;)

It's been nice to be out and about, although I'd love a good snowstorm!  Meanwhile, I'm enjoying thc cold, sunny days.  The sunrises, in particular, have been amazing.  It's wonderful to sit at my office computer and watch the skies change.  First it's dramatic and dark...

...and then it slowly begins to lighten and turn golden.  

I had a beautiful "winter view" from my office at our old place in South Carolina, too.  Contemplating the beauty of nature in these tiny ways has really helped me learn to notice and appreciate the small, everyday things in life.  One of the keys to happiness, I believe!

Have a great week!

snow white

 I had a fairly brilliant idea a few weeks ago.  Someone had once gifted me a Martha Stewart cookie cookbook, and I remembered her bombshell recipe:  one base dough + many varieties of flavorings = a wide selection of different cookies with little effort.  

We're definitely Christmas crazy here.  We've got the tree, the lights, the garlands, the decorations.  Every morning, we have a Christmas music extravaganza while we wake up and move through the daily routine.  We open Advent gifts.  At night, we watch a Christmas movie and do a Christmas reading (since I didn't want to pull a bunch of disjointed selections from the Internet, I decided to use my Little House books.  They celebrate Christmas in each one and they're pure and joyful).  I even simmered oranges and cinnamon in the crock pot for the "Christmas smells."  But what about taste?

There are so, so many things that I'd like to bake for Christmas, but a family of two does NOT need a ton of sweets sitting around.  I love the idea of daily Christmas cookies, though, so I took a base recipe from the Internet, halved it, and winged it.   One dough, split into 6 portions, flavored, and split again.

Daily Christmas cookies for us to eat and enjoy during our nightly Christmas movie...just one cookie each.  No guilt, no regret, and no sugar hangover in the morning.  

I took the 6 portions of the base dough and flavored each differently:  peanut butter chocolate chip, cranberry pecan, chocolate with chocolate chips, pumpkin spice, orange chocolate, and plain chocolate chip.  I split the portions in half so each of us would have a cookie, rolled and wrapped them, and stored in the fridge.  Every night I pull out a different pair, bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees, and enjoy!

It feels like Christmas inside, but outside, not so much.  We still haven't had snow to speak of.  We had about 3/4" one day, and it was gone the next.  But that one day was glorious!

I got to search out animal tracks in the snow, like these little bird tracks:

Deer:

Coyote?

And, um...cat.

I love seeing our neighbor's bright red barns through the trees when it snows.  They're completely hidden in the summer.

I love the summer/winter contrast, like the front garden...from June and December.

You can see that I left several tall stalks standing.  These are for the birds, and "winter interest."  

These almost look like cotton with the snow!

And so...many...birds.

Even without snow, our heavy frosts make beautiful morning pictures:

We're still hoping for a white Christmas, though.  

Have a great holiday season, whether you're gathering around the tree with a group...

...or spending some quiet time alone.  Here's to a great 2021!  It's got to be better than 2020, right?

Enjoy!

dozing by the dozer...

I think I'm enjoying this year's Advent calendar even more than Todd!  I couldn't wait for him to open these new Star Wars snowflakes that I made for one recent Advent gift:  the Rancor, the Wampa, and R2-D2.

This rounds out our "collection" nicely!

I'm a total sucker for December.  I love when it's sunny, because the skies are so gorgeous!

The trees and sky reflected in the pond...

When it's sunny, the horses are out...

...and we're out, too, taking a little jaunt around the property.

Of course, we've usually got company.

Claudia hunts more on sunny days, I've noticed.  I can see her working the fields from my office window.

A few moments, later, I usually hear a yowling from the front porch.  She's sharing her bounty...and that's the Christmas spirit, isn't it?

Sunny days are great...but to be honest, I prefer overcast winter days.  I turn on all the Christmas lights, and leave them on.  Sometimes we have a fire (and ALWAYS a cat)...

...and it's so cozy in contrast to the grey outdoors. I love seeing all of our beloved ornaments illuminated.  They all have some sort of meaning.  Animals that we've had a special connection to, like Pepito and Pepita from South Carolina...

One of our old cats, Clotilde...

...and various milestones, such as a new house.

I didn't want 2020's ornament to bring up memories of a less-than-stellar year, so I decided to make a felt bulldozer, to remind us of all that we've accomplished in rehabbing this property.  We've definitely had a few bulldozers around!

Hmmm...maybe I should've made the ornament orange and white?

I also love seeing beloved ornaments from my childhood, and favorite ornaments that I've made, like this felt wool coat from the 1940s with teeny attached gloves...

...and the large Scandinavian mitten ornament that I cross-stitched a few years ago.

No matter what kind of weather we're having, the sunrises are amazing.  I have the perfect view from my office window, and they're always different.

I look forward to it every morning.

I hope that everyone is enjoying the lights right now, even if you're stuck at home.

Have a great week!